Fireflies
by RisemboolRanger
Summary: Drabble (Flash Fiction Project). Reno never realised that carelessly squishing a bug would lead to a full-blown man hunt in order to find more. It turns out to be worth his while though; if not in a way he expected. But then with Lyra, things never go the way he expects. Reno/OC


Reno couldn't believe he'd been roped into this. He'd spent the last hour hunting for a firefly. How was he supposed to know that squishing the one that had landed on his sleeve would lead to this? How was he supposed to know Lyra hadn't seen one before? How was he supposed to know she would start screaming and hitting him and pulling his hair? Actually, that last one wasn't all that abnormal. But this search was a pain. All for some damn bug.

He could have just refused to help, but with Lyra, this was the lesser evil. She could be incredibly tiresome, particularly if she wasn't getting what she wanted. Rude called it extreme mood swings. Reno called it bat-shit crazy.

"In the next ten seconds, I'm giving up and going home," he decided.

"If you start counting, then I'm gonna start punching," Lyra threatened. Geez. She was so violent for such a small person.

"But we're not gonna find anything." Reno swatted a branch out of his way. How had he let her drag him into wandering through bushes in the dark? "That firefly probably got lost heading south for the winter or something."

"That's birds!"

"I'm just sayin', that firefly was a fluke. We haven't seen another in the last hour and we're clearly not going to, so we may as well just call it quits and..."

The last branch he'd pushed aside had turned out to be reeds. They'd found the river. And so had the fireflies.

If it hadn't been for the fireflies, they probably would have stumbled headfirst into the river. The water was black, invisible in the dark. It must have started to dry up, as it wasn't moving anymore. It was silent and completely still. The fireflies were the only indicator of its presence. The glowing bugs buzzed and flitted lazily back and forth - their reflections casting dancing golden lights across the black mirror of the water's surface, making it beautiful, rather than menacing. Reno had never seen so many fireflies in one place. And Lyra hadn't seen so many at all.

"They're so _pretty_!" she squealed excitedly.

Reno would have liked to have said that her reaction was worth the effort, but her voice was just so loud... He watched as Lyra proceeded to jump into the fray of fireflies that were hovering around the bank, trying to catch one. Her attempts were amusing, as they constantly evaded her. It would have been even more amusing if she'd fallen into the river.

Though her attention span certainly wasn't the greatest, Lyra wasn't stupid, despite the image she sometimes gave off. She was agile and she was fast. Once she figured out the fireflies' pattern of evasion, it didn't take long to plan a counter attack and put it into action. Before long, she'd managed to snatch one from the air.

"I got one, I got one!" she shouted happily, sending other fireflies scattering as she jumped up and down on the spot.

"Great. Can we go now?" Reno drawled.

"No way, I'm not done yet!"

Keeping the firefly safely cupped in her hands, Lyra flitted to Reno's side, forcing him to look too. She brought her hands up to her face and carefully formed a small gap between her thumbs to peer through. She couldn't even make out the shape of the firefly - all she could see was a small, luminous light. The firefly cast a glow over her face, turning her skin golden and her eyes amber. For a moment, she actually looked serene. The gold only added to it. You could almost believe that she was normal.

But of course, serene didn't suit Lyra. She opened her hands and allowed the firefly to take flight once more. It did so, arching over to join its friends above the dark river. Lyra watched its path, then turned back to Reno. Her face split into a grin. It was an expression he'd learnt to often fear. "Wanna go skinny dipping?"

"...What?" was all Reno could say. That was definitely Lyra. Come up with the most outrageous idea that no normal person would ever think of.

In response, Lyra pulled her top up over her head. As she pretty much always 'forgot' her underwear, it left her bearing her breasts to the night. Then, before Reno could even react, she slid both hands up along the sides of his face and pulled him in for a kiss. It was brief, but hard and deep, leaving him needing to catch his breath when she pulled away. Lyra took everything fast in life. As usual, Reno had no idea how to gage what she'd just done. Only an hour ago, she'd been trying to beat him up and rip his hair out. And not in the good way.

"Well?" Lyra pressed, almost demandingly. "Are you joining me?"

And as usual, Reno gave a shrug and the response that he now seemed to have reserved for everything Lyra suggested. For her only. "Alright then." His shirt quickly joined hers.


End file.
